Suryanelli and PJ
Kurian

Prof. PJ Kurien elected to Rajya
SabhaUpdate - Jan 2005THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Union
Minister and Congress leader P J Kurien was
elected to the Rajya Sabha defeating CPI
candidate C Divakaran in the by-poll held here
yesterday.
Kurien, candidate of Congress-led United
Democratic Front secured 95 votes out of the
total 132 votes polled. Four members from both
UDF and LDF did not vote due to various reasons.

Kurien's
victory was certain going by the strength of UDF
wth 99 members and LDF 41 in the 140-member
house. The by-poll was necessitated following the
death of CPI leader V V Raghavan. Kurien's term
will end in June 2006.

Talking to reporters after the election result
was announced, Kurien said he would try to
utilize his new position to work for the people
of the state.

Forum
Comments:It is extremely disgusting and
wrong on the part of Congerss to send this
child-molestor to the Parliament, even if it si
only for one and half years. The fellow is
capable of doing enough mischief within that
time!

Update
- Dec 2004

PJ Kurian is the Rajya
Sabha Candidate of Congress (27-12-2004)

It is disgusting to read that
Congress has selected PJ Kurian who was defeated
in the last Lok Sabha Election from Idukki, as
their Rajya Sabha candidate (Upper House of
Indian Parliament). This shows the strong empire
this man has built during his previous tenure as
MP and the minister at the centre.

No sensible person can
support this move. It is not surprising
considering the fact recently KPCC never came up
with a decision on the other PenVanibham man PK
Kunjalikkutty.

The candidature of PJ
Kurian is an insult to all Keralites and
espceially women. Congress in Kerala has deceived
people once again. It is obvious that Congress in
Kerala is 100% under the control of various mafia
organizations - liquor, drug-money, fake-lottery,
gulf money, smuggling and now even penVanibham
based industrial mafia.

We suggest all those who
oppose PenVanibham Kurian send a mail to the CM
asking him why he and KPCC have fielded a child
molestor as its Rajya Sabha candidate. Use this
link (don't need any email program -web is
enough)

Suryanelli Incident occurred on January 16, 1996, when
the victim, an 8th standard student in Nallathanni, was
abducted by bus conductor Raju. She was subsequently kept
in illegal custody in places like Kottayam, Ernakulam,
Kumali, Palakkad, Vanimel, Kambam, Theni, Kanyakumari,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kuravilangad, Aluva and Muvattupuzha,
and subjected to sexual harassment up to February 16. The
girl was set free in Idukki after 42 days in custody.

The name of former Union
minister and Congress (I) leader Prof P.J. Kurian did
not not figure in the chargesheet, though the girl had
recognized his picture in a copy of Mathrubhumi
newspaper. In May 1999, the Peerumade first class
judicial magistrate court had issued a direction to file
a chargesheet against Prof Kurian on the basis of a
private complaint filed by the victim, but using
influence at the Centre, Kurian managed to get an
injunction from the Supreme Court against this
indictment. Congress leaders in the state including
"Mr Clean" Antony took a covering-up stand in
the case.

Congress-CPM Role in the Rape
Scandal

While several of the convicted
including Jacob Stpehen are active Congress leaders in
Kottayam. Union Minister PJ Kurian escaped indictment
only because of his influence and the backboneless
attitude of the CPM! Marxists who came to power using
this case, took a back seat in catching the Congress
leader (Most likely CPM leaders would have taken a big
purse from the Congress counterparts for not following up
the case politically!)

Here is the whole story (with
links) of Congress Minister PJ Kurians involvment in the
Rape.

A special court at Kottayam has found 35 accused,
including three women, guilty, while acquitting four
others in the sensational Suryanelli sex scandal case.

Convicting them under Indian Penal Code sections 365
(kidnapping with intent to confine someone), 376 g (gang
rape) and 120-B (conspiracy), special judge M Sasidharan
Nambiar remanded the accused to custody till September 6,
when the judgement will be delivered.

The women convicted are Vilasini, Mary and Usha, while
Jacob Mathew, Joshi Mathew, Ajay Kumar and Mathew have
been acquitted.

The incident leading to the crime occurred on January
16, 1996.

The girl was subjected to sexual harassment up to
February 16 and set free in Idukki after 42 days.

There were originally 42 accused in the case. Of
these, one is dead and two are absconding. Proceedings,
which started in camera on November 16, 1998 ended last
month.

Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar today said his
government had taken all steps to constitute a special
court to try cases relating to the Suryanelli sex scandal
of 1996.

He told newsmen after a cabinet meeting that the
special court would be constituted on getting the high
court's clearance. Referring to the direction of a first
class judicial magistrate court to chargesheet Congress
leader Prof P J Kurian in connection with the case,
Nayanar said the government had nothing to do with it as
the direction was on the basis of a private complaint
filed by the alleged victim.

He accused KPPC President Thennala Balakrishna Pillai
and other Congress leaders of trying to defend Prof
Kurian despite a court having found that a prima facie
case existed against him. The action of the Congress
leaders amounted to contempt of court, he added.

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram The sensational
Suryanelli sex scandal, which was a major campaign point
in the 1996 Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Kerala,
has staged a comeback in the run up to the mid-term
election with a court in Idukki district finding Congress
chief whip in the dissolved Lok Sabha and former Union
minister Prof P J Kurien prima facie guilty in the case.

The senior Congress leader, who was exonerated thrice
by the state police following their investigations, has
been asked by the Peermedu Judicial First Class
Magistrate to appear before the court on June 7 while
disposing of a private complaint filed by the 15-year-old
victim.

The girl had alleged that Prof Kurien, who was then a
minister in the Narasimha Rao cabinet, had sexually
abused her at the Kumily rest-house on February 19, 1996.
Though she could not recognise him then, later she
identified him from a picture published in one of the
local dailies on March 26, 1996 and submitted a petition
to the then chief minister A K Antony.

Deputy inspector general of police V Rajivan,
appointed by the government to probe the charge, could
not find any evidence against the former minister and
declared him innocent. Though Kurien won the Mavelikkara
Lok Sabha seat comfortably in the ensuing election, the
CPI-M led government, which came to power in the state a
short time later, ordered a high level investigation by a
special team led by DIG Siby Mathews. This team also
could not substantiate the charge levelled by the victim,
especially since his itinerary conflicted with the date,
time and place mentioned in the petition.

The team came to the conclusion that it was near
impossible for Prof Kurien to be with the girl at Kumily
during the time mentioned by her. Later another police
inquiry was also ordered on the basis of an anonymous
letter received by the Peermedu court. The probe
conducted by the Idukki superintendent of police also
came to the same conclusion.

Following this, the victim approached the court with
the private complaint. The magistrate after examining the
victim, her parents and eight witnesses formed the
opinion that the Congress leader can be made an accused
in the case. The main case filed before the Thodupuzha
court had 42 accused.

The 15-year-old girl, who was studying at Little
Flower Convent at Munnar, was abducted from the hostel on
January 16 and returned after 40 days of sexual abuse by
different persons at different places across the state.
The crime branch, which investigated the case, has
arrested 40 of the 42 accused. Several Congress leaders
and prominent citizens figure in the list of the accused.

The Peermedu court's verdict has come as relief,
however small, to the girl, who has been agonisingly
waiting for justice for the past three years. Though the
Kerala government had announced its decision to set up a
special court for the speedy trial of the case as early
as December 1996, it is yet to materialise. The girl,
protected by two women constables and an armed male
constable, has been confined to her house.

Sex scandals have been haunting the Congress-led
United Democratic Front since 1996. The Kozhikode sex
scandal was a major cup of woe for the UDF in the 1998
election with allegations that P K Kunhalikutty, a top
leader of the Indian Union Muslim League, one of its
constituents, was involved in the racket doing the rounds
during the campaign.

Though the police have given a clean chit to the
leader, who is a former minister, various women's
organisations in the state are pursuing legal and other
options for implicating him in the case. Stree Vedi
leader K Ajitha, a former Naxalite, has planned to launch
an indefinite hunger strike for his arrest if the courts
dismissed her plea.

KOCHI, MAY 8: The Peermedu Judicial First Class
Magistrate Court yesterday found Congress leader and
former Union minister P J Kurien prima facie guilty in
the Suryanelli sex scandal case. Judicial first class
magistrate G Girish, while giving his verdict after the
hearing on a private complaint lodged by the victim of
the scandal, said Kurien could be implicated in the case.

The court has asked Kurien to appear before it on June
7 next. Kurien, who represented Mavelikkara constituency
in Kerala in the dissolved 12th Lok Sabha, was the Chief
Whip of the Congress. In her complaint, the girl from
Suryanelli had alleged that Kurien had sexually harassed
her at the Kumily panchayat rest house on February 19,
1996. Though she did not recognise him then, later she
identified him from a photograph published in the
Mathrubhumi on March 26, 1996.

On March 28, the girl's father submitted a petition to
the then chief minister A K Antony, with a submission by
the victim that she had identified that one of
theassailants was Kurien, who was called `Baaji' in the
deposition. The latest in the series of unsuccessful
probes against Kurien was the one by the Idukki SP on the
basis of an anonymous letter received by the Peermedu
court. This also ended up in the exoneration of Kurien.
Following this, the girl and her family lodged the
private complaint in the Peermedu court with Kurien as
the prime accused. The scandal, which erupted at the fag
end of the Antony Government, was a major campaign point
for the LDF during the 1996 general elections.

KOCHI, MAY 8: The Peermedu Judicial First Class
Magistrate Court yesterday found Congress leader and
former Union minister P J Kurien prima facie guilty in
the Suryanelli sex scandal case. Judicial first class
magistrate G Girish, while giving his verdict after the
hearing on a private complaint lodged by the victim of
the scandal, said Kurien could be implicated in the case.

The court has asked Kurien to appear before it on June
7 next. Kurien, who represented Mavelikkara constituency
in Kerala in the dissolved 12th Lok Sabha, was the Chief
Whip of the Congress.

In her complaint, the girl from Suryanelli had alleged
that Kurien had sexually harassed her at the Kumily
panchayat rest house on February 19, 1996. Though she did
not recognise him then, later she identified him from a
photograph published in the Mathrubhumi on March 26,
1996.

On March 28, the girl's father submitted a petition to
the then chief minister A K Antony, with a submission by
the victim that she had identified that one of
theassailants was Kurien, who was called `Baaji' in the
deposition. The latest in the series of unsuccessful
probes against Kurien was the one by the Idukki SP on the
basis of an anonymous letter received by the Peermedu
court. This also ended up in the exoneration of Kurien.
Following this, the girl and her family lodged the
private complaint in the Peermedu court with Kurien as
the prime accused. The scandal, which erupted at the fag
end of the Antony Government, was a major campaign point
for the LDF during the 1996 general elections.

Professor P J Kurien, the former Union minister and
Congress chief whip in the dissolved Lok Sabha, is far
from assured of victory in this traditional Congress
bastion.

One of party president Sonia Gandhi's close aides, the
professor is waging a battle for survival with the
Congress fortress showing signs of cracks, and the ghost
of the infamous Suryanelli sex scandal haunting him.

This hilly backward constituency has stood firmly
behind the Congress since 1977, and Professor Kurien was
elected from here in 1984 by 130,624 votes. But this
factor does not seem to be in play this time around.
Idukki goes to the polls on Saturday, September 11, in
the second phase.

Even as the senior Congress leader is accused of
fleeing Mavelikkara where he narrowly edged out his rival
by just 1,000 votes in 1998, his rival Francis George of
the Kerala Congress (Joseph), a partner of the
Marxist-led Left Democratic Front, is riding on the crest
of a sympathy wave as he approaches the voters for the
third consecutive time. He contested the 1996 and 1998
polls, unsuccessfully.

Professor Kurien says he left Idukki in 1989 after the
party leadership asked him to move to Mavelikkara. He
returns now after sitting MP P C Chacko was shifted to
Kottayam as a consequence of Congress strongman K
Karunakaran's shift from Thiruvananthapuram to
Mukundapuram.

Whether the voters give him another chance or not, his
main opponent, Francis George, a bank officer from
Moovattupuzha, is confident he will be third time lucky.
The son of K M George, the founder of the Kerala
Congress, he entered the fray in 1996 as a novice.

In a terrain utterly unfriendly to the Left parties,
he made an impact by reducing Congress winner A C Jose's
margin to 30,140 votes that year. Again, in 1998, he lost
to Chacko, by just 6,380 votes.

It is from this steep cut in the victory margin that
the LDF draws its aspiration from, and the UDF combine,
its fears. But history will not prop up the Left spirit.
The largest constituency in the state -- covering the
assembly segments of Devicolam, Idukki, Peermedu,
Thodupuzha and Udumbanchola of Idukki district and
Pathanamthitta and Ranni of Pathanamathitta district --
has unfailingly returned Congress-led forces.

It elected then Union minister C M Stephen (Congress)
in 1977. However, Marxist M M Lawrence emerged the winner
in 1980, thanks to the then political combine in which
both the Kerala Congress (Mani) and Antony Congress found
a place.

In 1984, riding on the sympathy wave generated after
Indira Gandhi's assassination, Professor Kurien set an
all-time high victory margin in the state.

While Pala K M Mathew of the Congress romped home
victorious in 1989 and 1991, it was the turn of another
Congress stalwart A C Jose to enjoy the loyalty of
Idukki's voters in 1996. However, the victory margins
have dwindled over the years.

Both candidates cannot play the son-of-the-soil card
-- they hail from outside Idukki -- so the fight is now
on to establish proximity to the voters. Though Professor
Kurien, who was earlier district Congress president of
Pathanamthitta, feels he is closer to the electorate
after his five-year term as representative, George is
confident he is a known face, as he is in the fray for a
third time.

With no concrete issues to battle it over, it is
little wonder that the charges against the Congress of
pulling down the Vajpayee government and failing to put
up an alternative, thanks to its obstinate stand, have
caught the imagination of many in this far-flung place,
especially the educated youth. The LDF is pinning its
hopes on the new voters, numbering 68,476 who might tread
a new political path.

This hilly area, where agricultural produce is the
main source of income, has always loved leaders who
espouse the causes of rubber, cardamom, pepper, coffee,
tea and coconut. It is not known how the ire over the
slump in cash crops will influence the swing in votes,
and in whose favour.

The UDF is projecting Professor Kurien as a likely
minister if the Congress comes to power at the Centre,
and is emphasising on his experience as an administrator
and leader.

Pitted against the considerable strength of the Left
trade unions in the plantations here, his poll managers
hope to cash in on the alliance between the AIADMK and
Congress in neighbouring Tamil Nadu to woo the Tamil
populace here.

They aver that the margin dipped last time due to
infighting in the Congress camp, and add that a united
party is fighting the election this time.

However, Professor Kurien's cup of woe is full with
the trial of the Suryanelli scandal, in which he is an
accused, making the headlines. Suryanelli is in Idukki,
and the Congressman is fighting an election for the first
time after news of the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl
rocked the state. Though the LDF says it will not rake up
the scandal, the professor's strategists, reluctant to
trust their rivals, say they will be unable to suppress a
whisper campaign.

Professor Kurien pleads his innocence and says the
election is a moral fight to prove his integrity. His
supporters won the first round by organising a warm
reception at Suryanelli where he delivered an
emotion-packed speech. The Congressman now hopes to
persuade Sonia to address an election meeting in his
constituency.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 7 (UNI)  For former
union minister and Congress Chief whip in the dissolved
House P.J. Kurien, who was defeated in the Idukki
constituency in Kerala, nemesis came in the form of an
18-year-old girl, who was gangraped and became the famous
Suryanelli sex scandal.

Idukki, which remained a fortress of the Congress-led
United Democratic Front (UDF) eversince its inception in
1977 was written off by the Left Democratic Front as a
rather unfriendly terrain. The Congress stalwart faltered
and bowed to his LDF rival, Mr Francis George, by a
margin of 9,298 votes, thanks to the scandal in which he
happened to be the prime accused.

It was the first time that Prof Kurien, who
represented Mavelikkara five times and Idukki once,
tasted defeat. He had won from the same constituency with
a thumping majority of 130,624 votes in 1984, the last
time he contested there.

Despite all favourable factors  the Congress
bastion, the Christian dominated hill-belt, anti-minority
attacks by the BJP, the likelihood of a Cabinet berth in
the event of the Congress returning to power at the
Centre, conservative Congress supporters and his services
as a union minister for the agro-based constituency
 the girl poured water on the professors
dream.

Alhough Prof Kurien had maintained a lead till almost
80 per cent of counting, the slender lead went in favour
of Mr Francis George (KC-LDF). The adverse poll verdict
not only caused a dent in the stronghold of the Congress,
but also showed signs of a shift of minorities from the
Congress.